The long established and common use of trash and/or garbage cans is so familiar to the general public that explanation of the purpose, function and use of such cans need not be entered into.
It should be noted that most trash and garbage cans have flat, horizontal bottom walls and cylindrical side walls projecting upwardly from the bottom walls and defining open tops. The great majority of such cans are provided with substantially flat, horizontal lids or covers removably engageable over the open tops of the cans. The covers characteristically include annular depending peripheral retaining flanges or skirts which depend about the exterior of the upper portions of the side walls of their related cans and are provided with central manually engageable handles at their tops, to facilitate manual manipulation thereof.
Due to the various support means and/or systems commonly utilized to accommodate and effect the use and handling of trash and garbage cans, such cans have become substantially standardized as regards their basic size, shape and construction. Standardizing of such cans has become sufficiently well established so that many municipalities have adopted codes which specify and require the use of particular sizes and models of trash and garbage cans.
While common trash cans have proven to be reasonably satisfactory for use in most situations, there are a number of commonly encountered situations where they are notably deficient. One well known and common situation where trash cans are deficient is where domestic and/or wild animals are present and can gain substantially free access to such cans while foraging for food. In such situations, ordinary trash can lids are so insecure that substantially any animal seeking entry into their related cans can quickly and easily displace the lids. In those cases where trash can lids are secured in place by common bail-like latch means and/or where they frictionally engage their related cans so that they are not freely removable, animals generally learn to release the commonly provided forms of latch means and thereafter pry the lids free. In many instances, large animals, such as dogs and bears, simply and directly knock trash cans over with sufficient force to displace the lids and to scatter the contents of the cans for convenient foraging.
It has been conservatively estimated that in the United States, each day animals gain access to and frequently scatter the contents of millions of trash cans.
As a result of the foregoing, there has been a long felt need for effective and convenient to operate means for releasably securing trash can lids on their related cans to prevent displacement thereof by animals and thereby eliminate the inconveniences and hazards otherwise caused by animals.
The prior art is repleat with various forms and kinds of manually operable latching or locking means to releasably secure trash can lids to their related cans, but to date, no such means has met with notable commercial success and, to the best of our knowledge, no such means is presently being produced and made available to the general public.